One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot,went to the chief priests and said, “What are you willing to give meif I hand him over to you?” They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over. On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, “Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?” He said, “Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, ‘The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples.”‘“ The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover. When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me.” Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, “Surely it is not I, Lord?” He said in reply, “He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me. The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born.” Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply,“Surely it is not I, Rabbi?” He answered, “You have said so.”
REFLECTION
“ Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me”
We hear that Judas was paid 30 pieces of silver in order to hand Jesus over to the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus knows who will betray Him, and we yell out,
“ Surely, it is not I, Lord”. (Matthew 26:22)
“Please, Don’t let it be me”, we scream to ourselves!
We are shocked!
It is so easy to find fault, criticize, and pass judgment especially when we know how much Jesus loves us. But we forget that when we sin--any sin, we do the same that Judas did. After meditating on the 40 Days of Repentance in our Lenten prayers, we see how the devil never relents, keeps watching out when we are the weakest, and then—temptation starts eroding our spiritual life, drawing us away from God. And we, too, hand over Jesus.
All our sins are awful in the eyes of the Lord.
As we approach the Holy Triduum, the holiest days of the Church year, spend some quiet time with the Lord.
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